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Author: ianskorner

I was excited to see that Mark Olson (formally of the Jayhawks) was playing in Portland on Thursday the 7th. I’ve been trying to save some green but figured he wouldn’t be around Maine again for a while so I ponied up the money and myself and my domestic partner headed over to One Longfellow Square (which is fast becoming my favorite place to see a show.)

I love it when a band has no opening act, which was the case for this show. Mark and his touring partner/wife Ingunn Ringvold took the stage promptly at 8:05 and treated the small but enthusiastic audience to an almost two hour set. Now I’ve got to admit that I only recently discovered Mark Olson’s music with the release of Many Colored Kite. I’ve known and listened to the Jayhawks’ music casually for years now but after I experienced car problems on two separate occasions while listening to Tomorrow the Green Grass (on cassette even!) I figured that the Jayhawks had cursed me somehow and that I should probably never listen to them again. Looking back, I think the fact that I was driving an ancient Mazda Protege with a questionable transmission probably had more to do with the car trouble than Mark, Gary & the boys. Anyway, I think that Many Colored Kite may be one of the best albums I’ve ever heard so I was excited to hear these songs live and what the musicians would do with them. Sadly, they only played one track of off Many Colored Kite but that was ok because the rest of the set list was filled with solo tracks from Mark’s almost-as-awesome-as Many Colored Kite album Salvation Blues as well as some faithful to the source material versions of Jayhawks tunes and a couple of early Jayhawks tunes that Mark and Ingunn performed with only hand percussion. A joke(?) was made onstage about looking for backers to finance a re-recording of Hollywood Town Hall in this fashion. I for one think it would make a great Record Store Day release but after Mark’s quip about YouTube taking the place of record stores; perhaps he’s not interested? The set also included at least one tune from Mark’s Original Harmony Ridge Creekdippers project and some good-natured stage banter about deer, littering, the difficulties of an intercontinental relationship, and the fact that Maine is always dark and rainy when he visits.

The show was a lot of fun, the price was right ($15) and any show that I can sit down at is a show that I like. Thanks to the folks at One Longfellow for bringing Gary Olson to Maine. Keep ’em coming.

Below is a cruddyy picture I took with my phone. You’re not imagining things; Gary Olson really does look like Bill Murray. I’m thinking he may get that a lot.

I’m going to stop using roman numerals because I really don’t know what comes after 20 and I have a feeling the demand for Fan Art will be big. This piece is inspired by one of my favorite compilations of all time. I’m not one to toot my own horn but I feel this is a little more interesting than the original cover. The snow makes you think of cold while the parking garage makes you think of a city, which Windham is. It really comes together.

Bob Dylan’s 2011 album Selfie Portrait. Lyrical topics on this album include our eagerness to share too much information with others, eBay listing fees, and the rise & fall of MySpace. Released on 180 gram vinyl, CD, 7″ box set, and as a digital download. Greil Marcus provides the liner notes. Dylan covers the Strokes, Solange, & Buddy Guy on this one.

Have you ever seen the movie Pee Wee’s Big Adventure? Do you recall the scene where he and Dottie are sitting in the dinosaur’s mouth and watching the sun rise? That dinosaur is located outside of Palm Springs, California. I was fortunate enough to visit it in March of 2012. They were not officially open yet so I wasn’t able to go up into the dinosaur. I hope to go up into the dinosaur the next time I’m in Palm Springs. If and when that happens I will update this post with pictures from inside the dinosaur’s mouth. Please excuse the poor cropping job. I elected to remove the people that were in this shot in deference to their privacy.

I traded in my 1998 Forester in March of 2012 and purchased a 2006 Subaru Impreza. About a month and a half later I was driving to work and saw my old car for sale at the Forest Avenue Plaza in Portland, Maine. Naturally I stopped and took a picture of it next to my new car.